Carte Blanche: A Solo Exhibition by Olu Amoda

Art Twenty One is pleased to present Carte Blanche, a solo exhibition of renowned mixed media artist Olu Amoda from November 6th, 2021 to January 29th, 2022. As the fourth solo exhibition of Olu Amoda at Art Twenty One, Carte Blanche presents the artist’s body of work created over the past three years and addresses the diverse expression trends in contemporary sculpture as transparent in the use of material, techniques, technologies, forms, and style in today's Nigeria. Combining repurposed materials, mild steel objects, nails, rods, aluminum and wood, the artist invites audiences to engage with sculptural works clad in social and political layers that are not easily deciphered as the viewer encounters them. The exhibition brings together Amoda’s recent experimentation as an environmental scientist and thematically focuses on banditry, state-sponsored execution, and brutal acts against humanity. Amoda embraces the world as his living theatre and places Nigeria at the centre stage for observing the many crimes that have remained unsolved and press freedom globally.

According to Olu Amoda,

“The threat to urban dispositions is now endemic, as evident in power structures in government and the private sector - every class, household, school, association, and business. The revered civility in our collective consciousness has gone over time. It appears the proverbial village has given up on raising the kid. The use of art as a tool for social discourse has created an inflection where artists are interceding for the art— no more art for art's sake. The "about" has become more significant than the "on" comfort zone for most art critics. Significant numbers of art critics and journalists now thrive on the "about," thus negating the discourse of art history interception to contemporary art- making. One of the strategies explored in this body of work is using the familiar to uncover the unknown where each piece challenges what is seen and expressed as artwork. They are complex in composition but mirror today's society's organized chaos, the eternal desire to accumulate more than we need. The ants in their colony will marvel at how humans have managed so far and not extinct themselves. Today's challenge is about one's ability to disrupt.”